Battery terminal connector



Nov. 21; 1950 w. s. THOMAS BATTERY TERMINAL CONNECTOR 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 9, 1948 R. m N 2 7 M M, m

///; ATTORNEY Patented Nov. 21, 1950 UNITED TATES PATENT OFFICE "BATTERY TERMINAL CONNECTOR William S. 'l homa's, "Williamsport, Ba., assignor,

Eby mesne assignments, to Pe't'er Zayaa. itchnson *Cit-y, Joseph -Marooni, Endicott, and :Henry-G.

:3Schloer, lestal, N. Y a partnership i ipplieationFebruary 9, 1948, Serial No. 7,173

3-Claims.

The present invention relates :to aniimproved battery terminal connector andrmore particiilarly toa battery'terminal connector for an automobilestorage battery or *thelike.

Although numerous attempts have been made to improve the battery iterminal connector used to connect the battery in the electrical system OfaIltOmOtlVGiVBhiCIBS,110118 of these attempts has been "generally accepted by the automotive manufacturer, trade or the consumer. Fundamentally, the same design has been used since the inceptionof 'theaautomobile; namelyga split zring'or sleeve havingapertured lugs, a threaded bolt extending through the lugs and a nut on -the'threaded.portion of thebolt as a tightening medium.

As is well'tknown, terminals-of batteries such as storage batterieszare subject to corrosive action. The terminal connectors customarilycon- .tain soft pliable metal suchas aleadalloy, which, due to long contaetswith'the acids orfumes'from the storage batteryycorrode and'deform to an extent making the rem'oval'from the battery post difiicult. Thememoval'ofthe connector usually requires a wrench or pliers to loosen the bolts and then a-screw driver'or other 1ever:device: plus a hammer to open -the jaws of the clamp torremove :it. During the use of such tools the post is subject to terrific strain and often is loosened from its sealingcompound. In many cases the cells are cracked and elements are knocked from the plates :whichidamages the battery ffurther.

- -In designing :a "battery terminal .connector, there are'amumbe'r of factors 'to=be taken into consideration. Of particular importance is 'the cost :and, r thus, "a-desirable :connector should not have a large number of vcomplicated f parts. In recent years, some battery manufacturers have placed the terminal postof the battery: close to thefiller caps and difiiculty: is often encountered whenit is-desireditoreinovefthe filler caps'in order to add water to; the 'cell. Thus, the soon-- 'nector should .-be relatively smail but zperhaps more important, however, is the looking or freezing omthe battery post.

It is' anr object. of: the present invention 1201"!)1'0- videra battery terminal connector wherein both the jaws of the clamp are positively forcedrapart up'on' loosening of" the connecting bolt.

:It isa further objectzof this inventiontopro- -vide :a battery terminal cconnecto'r, wherein the jawsare 'ea'ch engaged byscrew threadsofithe same bolt.

Another object:of the present inventionlis to provide Fat-battery termina1= connector, the iiaws .2 of which are .of .asoftzmetal-but which zhaveii'screw thread .operating :means of :a :harder :metal.

,It .is re, fur ther (object of tithe present :invention to provide a battery fterminal :conneotor :which may be removed by the use of a wrench alone.

Qther objects frelatingito features :of T construction,icombination of elements, andzarrangement of :parts, will be :obvious from the 'following description aof :the zpreferred :embodiment of :the invention,rferencezbeing'hadatoitheaaccon panye ingtdrawingspwhereinz Figure 31 issa perspective .view ofzone embodiment of my improved batter-y :terminal connector;

:EigQiisa plantview, partlyin section, of'ithe clamp "shown in Figure :1 in openzpositi'on;

;Fig. 3 :is a zplan Lview, :partly in section, of the clamp shownin Eigure .1 in :closediposition;

Fig. 4 is an elevationaliview "of the bolt-inf Figures ,2 and 3 with :screw threaded :bushings placed thereon;

Fig. 5 is fa plan lview of 1thefbolt i-without th bushings; .zand,

'Fig.-6 is asectional view 0f the bushings.

Referring to the drawings, there isshown -the clamp having a base it seemed 'to a cable l i in the customary :manner and a pair iof jaws l2 and I3. Within the jawsisia substantially circular recess =i 5having' a smoothisurfa'ce tapering so that :the widest Ppart :goes on the :battery post'first. :Nearathe upper ends ofthecjaws,-'iwhieh are customarily of .2. soft :pliable metal, are threaded bushings t6 and 1 l1, "preferably :of :a harder metalthan the jaws. Threaded in these bushings is ta:bolt 19 having a larger threaded section 420, preferably containing let=hand threads,- and'za smaller threadedr sectioni'i l ,preferably containing right-hand 'threads. Threads in'thebushing i6 are adapted to cooperate with the boltithreads ZByandfthreads in the :bushing 1| 1' are adaptedato cooperate with: the: holtathreads fllpan'd itwill' be obvious that turning .the bolt in one direction'lwill' bring the bushings andhence the jawstogether as in Figure .3, whilel'turning in the opposite direction will force the. bushings apart as in Figure :2. The threatie'd*section 20 is preferably shorter than 'thebu'shing '16 in which it operates.

Furthermore, as shown at Figures -2 'and"3 the bushing liii is preferablyslig'htly shorter than the jaw in which it is located such that-aeoated smooth bushing 23 may be formed when-the clamp is cast continuous'with the jaw 12. The bolt is :provided with a smooth portion of the shaft EZ SAadjacent the 'head of the "bolt, and

another smooth portion of the shaft 26 between the two threaded sections. The smooth portions 25 and 26 are preferably the root diameter of the threaded section 20, and the diameter of the smooth portion 26 is somewhat greater than the diameter of the threaded section 21. The bushing l1, furthermore, is provided with a countersunk portion 21 adapted to receive the soft metal smooth bushing 23. The outside end of bushing I! is preferably closed as by closure 28 and a portion 29 of soft metal allowed to cover it.

In the manufacture of the device the threaded bushings are first threaded on to the bolt, as shown in Figure 4, and the bolt with the bushing thereon is placed in a mold and then the soft pliable metal poured around it. For purposes of anchoring the threaded bushings, they are preferably provided with notches 3|. Figures 5 and 6 show the bolt and bushings respectively in the relative positions as they should preferably be placed in being put in the mold. While this is the open position of the jaws, there is ample space for further opening of the jaws or for closing of the jaws without jamming the device.

In the operation of the device, it will be seen that only a short turn with a wrench is required to tighten the jaws around the post since both sides of the jaws simultaneously move together and by a short turn in the opposite direction, the clamp positively disengages because the threads in the bushings forces the jaws apart simultaneously. Thus, only one wrench is necessary in the tightening or removing of this battery terminal clamp and the positive operation of the jaws upon the removal of the clamp removes the necessity for a screw driver or other lever plus a hammer which are usually required in removing the ordinary battery clamp.

In the preferable embodiment illustrated, it will be seen that the threaded sections 20 and 2| are of different diameters, as well as the corresponding threaded bushings. This is for the reason that the large bushing may first be threaded on the bolt and then the smaller bushing, and in this manner a single integral bolt may be used while still containing opposite threaded portions.

Also, it might be noted that the preferred embodiment illustrated provides left-hand threads adjacent the bolt head and right-hand threads on the smaller portion of the bolt on the opposite end from the head. By this arrangement, the clamp is tightened by the ordinary clockwise movement of the bolt and loosened by the ordinary counter clock-wise movement. Also, the arrangement provides that in tightening, the bolt head moves out from the adjacent jaw and thus cannot jam against the adjacent jaw face with further tightening. While these two features are particularly important it will be understood that the left and right-hand threads may be otherwise arranged. Furthermore, in the embodiment illustrated, there is provided a bolt head adapted to be turned by a wrench but it will be understood that a hexagonal or similar wrench gripping portion of the bolt might be located near the middle of the bolt or within the clamp opening but this is not preferable.

A particular advantage of the present type of connector is that it can be made rather small and thus avoid contact with the battery caps which is sometimes a disadvantage of the larger sized clamps. Another advantage of the present device is that the bolt cannot be acci.

dentally removed from the clamp and lost. The present connector is adapted for positive opening of the jaws by moving the jaws an equal distance with an equal pressure on each. This requires less effort than that required to remove previous clamps and there is no damage to the battery.

A further advantage of the present device is the fact that the parts are assembled in the mold so that when the metal is poured, a complete connector is formed which requires no further assembling or machining. It is removed from the mold a finished product ready for use.

While certain preferable embodiments of the invention are hereinbefore set forth, it is to be clearly understood that the invention is not to be limited to the exact construction illustrated and described because various modifications of the details may be provided in putting the invention into practice within the purview of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. In a battery terminal connector comprising a U-shaped body member of soft metal defining an opening for receiving the terminal post and having a pair of clamping jaws, axially related bushings of hard metal embedded in the ends of said jaws, one of said bushings having a threaded blind-end bore and a smooth counterbore opening through the inner face of the jaw end embedding said bushing, the other bushing having an oppositely threaded bore extending substantially therethrough, a bolt having right and lefthand threaded sections in its end portions adapted to cooperate with the corresponding threads of said bushings for tightening and separating said jaws, and a smooth bushing of soft metal integral with and extending from the inner face of the jaw end embedding said other bushing and encircling an unthreaded intermediate portion of said bolt, said smooth bushing adapted to enter the counterbore in said one bushing when said clamping jaws are tightened.

2. In a battery terminal connector comprising a U-shaped body member of soft metal defining an opening for receiving the terminal post and having a pair of clamping jaws, axially related bushings of hard metal embedded in the ends of said jaws, one of said bushings having a threaded blind-end bore and a smooth counterbore opening through the inner face of the jaw and embedding said bushing, the other bushing having an oppositely threaded bore extending therethrough of larger diameter than the threaded bore of said first bushing, a headed bolt having right and lefthand threaded sections of different diameter in its end portions adapted to cooperate with the corresponding threads of said bushings for tightening and separating said jaws, the larger diameter threaded section being adjacent the bolt head, and a smooth bushing of soft metal integral with and extending from the inner face of the jaw end embedding said other bushing and encircling an unthreaded intermediate portion of said bolt, said smooth bushing adapted to enter the smooth counterbore in said one bushing when said jaws are tightened.

3. In a battery terminal connector comprising a U-shaped body member of soft metal defining an opening for receiving the terminal post and having a pair of clamping jaws, axially related bushings of hard metal embedded in the ends of said jaws, one of said bushings having a threaded blind-end bore and a smooth counter-5 La bore opening through the inner face of the jaw end embedding said bushing, the other bushing having an oppositely threaded bore extending therethrough of larger diameter than the threaded bore of said first bushing, a bolt having a head and right and lefthand threaded sections in its end portions, one threaded section having correspondingly larger diameter than the other threaded section and separated therefrom by a smooth threadless shaft portion, the largerdiameter threaded section being disposed adjacent the head of the bolt, said threaded sections of the stem adapted to cooperate with the corresponding threads of the axially related bushings for tightening and separating said jaws, said smooth threadless shaft portion having a diameter greater than the external diameter of the smaller-diameter threaded section and substantially equal to the root diameter of the threads of the larger-diameter threaded section, and a smooth bushing of soft metal integral with and extending from the inner face of the jaw end embedding said other bushing and encircling 6 the threadless section of said bolt, said smooth bushing adapted to enter the smooth counterbore in said first bushing when said jaws are tightened.

WILLIAM S. THOMAS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,690,310 Pieh Nov. 6, 1928 1,797,684 Handler Mar. 24, 1931 1,837,814 Grunwald Dec. 22, 1931 1,838,417 Le May Dec. 29, 1931 2,041,966 Schaefer May 26, 1936 2,140,843 McGinnis et a1. Dec. 20, 1938 FQREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 820,629 France Aug. 2, 1937 

